Not wanting to bury ETA

There is a legitimate debate about the release and prison leave for former ETA members: Should repentance be public? One branch of the victims demands it this way, because signing a paper that remains hidden in a file has no weight. On the other hand, it is argued that this obligation borders on mockery and carries the danger of stigmatization or even reprisal. The issue is interesting. In contrast, the approach of Abc this Sunday was an irresponsible trivialization of the matter. They spoke of the semi-liberty regime granted to Garikoitz Aspiazu Rubina, the ETA member known by the nickname Txeroki. And the cover had a scandalous title: “The new Txeroki commando: ETA members and their associates to escort him”. The subtitle said that upon his release he was met by a swarm of journalists and that “threats, shoves, insults and crisscrossing cars...” occurred. In the text, there was the classic sensationalist prose: “Returning home, the silent, wet and lonely city only leaves questions. If ETA prisoners look like ETA members, drive like ETA members, insult, threaten and assault like ETA members, how can one believe that ETA does not exist?”. They even cite a supposed Ertzaintza agent who says: “This is worse than eight years ago”. Really? Worse than the years of lead? Worse than the bombs in barracks and supermarkets? Worse than kidnappings and the revolutionary tax? Did they sincerely prefer that? What a trivialization.

The press must be present to report incidents, but not to provoke them. And it is becoming increasingly evident that certain media outlets are crossing this fine line. This does not justify the bad manners of Aspiazu Rubina's entourage, if they were there, but it does make necessary a minimum of measure and distance when writing so as not to elevate to terrorism what, apparently, was nothing more than a minor incident.